OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2003

The seventh edition of the OFC Women’s Nations Cup took place in 2003 and was held in Canberra, Australia, with all matches played at the Belconnen Soccer Centre. It doubled as OFC qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in the USA, and was contested between five teams; hosts and two-time defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and the Cook Islands.

The tournament reverted to its older format, with all five nations playing each other in a round-robin structure and the highest finishing side winning both the OFC Women’s Nations Cup title and qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup™. Once again Australia and New Zealand asserted their dominance, winning all of their first three matches by dominant scorelines. Papua New Guinea recorded the lowest losing margin against one of the two, falling to a 0-5 defeat to New Zealand. With nine points each, the title came down to a decider between the two Trans-Tasman rivals once more in the final match of the tournament.

Strikes from Joanne Peters and Danielle Small inspired Australia to a 2-0 win over New Zealand at the Belconnen Soccer Centre, confirming a third straight OFC Women’s Nations Cup title and qualification for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup™. With wins over Samoa and the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea finished in third. New Zealand’s Maia Jackman was the tournament’s top goalscorer, scoring three hat-tricks across the event.